Yellow shop in Crystal Palace Road

[Goodliz]

Today I went into the yellow shop on Crystal Palace Road - the one sort of opposite the Castle Pub - to buy a zone 1-2 travel card. I paid my ?5.30 for what I believed was a travel card. When I got to Elephant and Castle to get on the tube I discovered I'd been sold a bus pass. So I had to spend another ?5.30 at Elephant and Castle on a travel card to get into town.

I went back into the shop just now to tell them what had happened - I am a regular customer. The man said it was my responsibility to check I had the right item in the first place. I told him I believe it is my responsibility to pay the right money for my goods and it is his to sell me the right things.

We ended up more or less having an argument in the shop and his wife came out and of course supported him in the answer that is up to me to check I've been sold the right thing.

He said he had never made that mistake before which was a lie as he has done the same to my husband.

I said I am an honest person who uses the shop regularly. I am supportive of small businesses and have even pointed out to them when they have out of date food on their shelves so they can take it down. They even sell individual items from multipacks which actually have 'not for resale' written on them! I said that although they are not accountable to anyone as it is their own business they still need customers. His very angry parting words were 'I don't need customers.'

So rather than getting a full refund of the ?5.30 he just gave me the difference between the travel card and the bus pass even though I had to buy another travel card to get where I needed to go.

I really hate slagging off local businesses especially as I run a small business in the area myself. I just wandered whether people had experienced this kind of mistake themselves and whose fault it is.

[spadetownboy]

its your fault, i,ve often been given the wrong item in small shops and am aware enough to check that what i get is what i asked for. to be truthful i think it was pretty generous for him to offer you the difference.

[Fuschia]

A bus pass costs less than ?5.30, I presume? Well, he'c clearly in the wrong if he charged you ?5.30 for one, regardless of when you noticed his mistake.

[okcomputa]

OMG you must be so bored - what is the point/motivation exactly of your post? I couldn't count the number of times I've been short changed or incorrectly billed etc in life - sometimes it's my fault, other times not.

[Goodliz]

okcomputa Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> OMG you must be so bored - what is the

> point/motivation exactly of your post? I couldn't

> count the number of times I've been short changed

> or incorrectly billed etc in life - sometimes it's

> my fault, other times not.

I suppose it does come across like that! I was just really cross as he made the mistake and I'm fed up of shops trying to rip people off. I wanted to know whether there was some kind of rule that people should check their stuff before they leave a shop as they don't have any grounds for complaint otherwise. Anyway, it just goes to show I should never say anything while I'm still angry!

[bignumber5]

Actually Goodliz I do see the point of this post - the TFL ticket machine thingies ring up how much the ticket costs, so he will have known full well that the till had registered one thing and he had charged you another. There's nothing you can do about it, as the "no changes will be made after you've left the shop" thing is the same in small shops as big supermarkets, but i sympathise.

That shop is normally fine (cleanliness aside) unless you challenge the owner on anything - I've been in there before and rummaged thru the goods because the ones in front are out of date, and he has told me not to; when I've told him it is because things are out of date, he says "ok" but never makes any effort to remove dated goods. And when others have reached for something and I have told them that the one they've picked up is out of date, he has told me to mind my own business - a valid point, i s'pose, but even in the cut-throat world of trying to run your own business, I think knowingly selling things that are out of date is a bit off.

Anyway, that's a separate point. Summary: I think he probably realised that he'd sold you the wrong thing, but after the fact it's your word against his and he just doesn't back down, so you're stuck. There seems to be a moral to the tale, but Poo situation to be in.

[ratty]

The customer is always right! A simple ethos and one which is sadly lacking nowadays! Boycott the shop!

[giggirl]

I will definitely boycott the place - out of date food and a bad attitude - there's a bad combo if I ever saw one.

[Goodliz]

Thanks for the understanding I am glad I am not the only one to think that was off. I've even calmed down now!:)

[HonaloochieB]

Selling individual items from multi-packs? Are there no depths to which these yellow shop bastards won't sink?

Choking on my own rage here.